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Once Kumbhed, twice shy: The Asian Age
New Delhi, Aug 04: To go or not to go - this is the dilemma facing Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the question of taking a holy dip in the river Godavari during the Kumbh Mela at Nashik.
New Delhi, Aug 04: To go or not to go — this is the dilemma facing Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the question of taking a holy dip in the river Godavari during the Kumbh Mela at Nashik.
AICC sources say that the party president is yet to take a decision on the matter. But party insiders indicate that there is a strong possibility that Mrs Gandhi may not even go to Nashik during the Kumbh Mela.
The Congress president had earlier visited the Mahakumbh at Allahabad, wet her toes in the holy waters of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati at the Sangam there and performed a puja. Later, on the same visit, she had also met some sants and shankaracharyas.
Party leaders had believed that this would reap benefits for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. The sources said that she had gone on the advice of senior leaders who had thought that a single dip by Mrs Sonia Gandhi at the Sangam would take care of the “foreigner” image and make her, at least in the eyes of the brahmins of Uttar Pradesh, a true Bharatiya nari. The results of the Assembly elections, which followed soon afterward, showed otherwise. In the absence of any significant local leadership, the Congress in Uttar Pradesh had fought the polls almost solely under her banner. It failed to retain even the strength that it enjoyed in the outgoing Assembly.
In the Gujarat elections too, she had played the “soft Hindutva” card by launching the Congress campaign from the holy town Ambaji. This too failed to yield any dividend.
This time around the silence of 10 Janpath on Mrs Gandhi’s Kumbh plans ahead of the crucial Assembly polls in five states could also be due to the proactive role being played by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh against the Sangh Parivar. His support for a ban on cow slaughter across the country, for cow urine therapy, the campaign for the cow as a state animal and the Bhojshala issue has put the BJP on the defensive, forcing it to make the development of the state its main demand. In this “big fight” in Madhya Pradesh, Mrs Gandhi has little role to play. This is because credit or blame for victory or defeat in the Assembly election will go to Mr Singh.
Meanwhile, according to reports from Bhopal, Mr Singh will visit the Nashik Kumbh sometime later this month and hold discussions with mela officials people belonging to the “akhada parishad” there. Maharashtra chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde has already visited Nashik.
Mr Singh has imposed a ban on lifting of water from the Kshipra river and other surrounding sources and asked for timely closure of the gates of the stop dam to ensure availability of adequate water for the simhashtha (Kumbh Mela) at Ujjain next year. According to reports from Nashik, with just nine days left for the first “shahi snan” (royal bath) in connection with the Kumbh at Trimbakeshwar town, which houses one of the 12 jyotirlingas, thousands of sadhus belonging to 10 different akhadas are now engaged in preparations for the August 12 ceremony. As many as 10,000 sadhus have already arrived at Trimbakeshwar, while the district administration and the Trimbakeshwar municipal council are busy giving final touches to preparations.
The Congress president had earlier visited the Mahakumbh at Allahabad, wet her toes in the holy waters of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati at the Sangam there and performed a puja. Later, on the same visit, she had also met some sants and shankaracharyas.
Party leaders had believed that this would reap benefits for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. The sources said that she had gone on the advice of senior leaders who had thought that a single dip by Mrs Sonia Gandhi at the Sangam would take care of the “foreigner” image and make her, at least in the eyes of the brahmins of Uttar Pradesh, a true Bharatiya nari. The results of the Assembly elections, which followed soon afterward, showed otherwise. In the absence of any significant local leadership, the Congress in Uttar Pradesh had fought the polls almost solely under her banner. It failed to retain even the strength that it enjoyed in the outgoing Assembly.
In the Gujarat elections too, she had played the “soft Hindutva” card by launching the Congress campaign from the holy town Ambaji. This too failed to yield any dividend.
This time around the silence of 10 Janpath on Mrs Gandhi’s Kumbh plans ahead of the crucial Assembly polls in five states could also be due to the proactive role being played by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh against the Sangh Parivar. His support for a ban on cow slaughter across the country, for cow urine therapy, the campaign for the cow as a state animal and the Bhojshala issue has put the BJP on the defensive, forcing it to make the development of the state its main demand. In this “big fight” in Madhya Pradesh, Mrs Gandhi has little role to play. This is because credit or blame for victory or defeat in the Assembly election will go to Mr Singh.
Meanwhile, according to reports from Bhopal, Mr Singh will visit the Nashik Kumbh sometime later this month and hold discussions with mela officials people belonging to the “akhada parishad” there. Maharashtra chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde has already visited Nashik.
Mr Singh has imposed a ban on lifting of water from the Kshipra river and other surrounding sources and asked for timely closure of the gates of the stop dam to ensure availability of adequate water for the simhashtha (Kumbh Mela) at Ujjain next year. According to reports from Nashik, with just nine days left for the first “shahi snan” (royal bath) in connection with the Kumbh at Trimbakeshwar town, which houses one of the 12 jyotirlingas, thousands of sadhus belonging to 10 different akhadas are now engaged in preparations for the August 12 ceremony. As many as 10,000 sadhus have already arrived at Trimbakeshwar, while the district administration and the Trimbakeshwar municipal council are busy giving final touches to preparations.